As they sang, Correia stared at the coffin of her daughter Selma Goncalves, the 20-year-old shot to death on Jan. 21. A member of the Cape Verdean Association was at the mother’s side, trying to comfort her.

More than 1,000 people filled St. Edith Stein Church in Brockton on Friday to mourn Goncalves, one of two people who, according to prosecutors, were shot to death by a man in a hate-filled rampage.

They came to support the family.

“Words cannot describe what they are going through, said Antunes Barros, a cousin.

“She always had a smile,” said Edinea Santos, a co-worker. “She was very nice.”

Old and young alike listened as the Rev. Rev. Lino Pereira, who officiated the funeral Mass, talked of keeping hope alive, of keeping faith, of keeping God in their hearts.

They listened as teenagers and young adults did readings.

“Love does not die, people do,” one told the mourners.

They watched and cried as the young woman’s father, Madueno Goncalves, mother and siblings walked behind her coffin to a waiting hearse at the church.

“This is when you question yourself and you question your faith,” said Rosa Evora, one of the mourners. “You start to think and you start to talk and you try to think and try to forgive — but how do you forgive?”

The man accused in the killing, Keith Luke, 22, is being held without bail on a string of charges, including rape, murder and hate crimes. He is also accused of shooting at police officers who tried to stop him after the slayings. Luke is being held without bail at Plymouth County jail.

Mourners spent Wednesday at Melrose Cemetery burying 72-year-old Arlindo Goncalves, also killed in the rampage. They returned Friday and watched as pallbearers carried Selma Goncalves’ coffin to her grave. There, a mother’s soulful cry pierced the air. “Selma,” she cried in Creole. “Selma, my Selma.”